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An Atlantic City police patrol car enters Trump Taj Mahal Casino
Resort's parking garage Monday. Atlantic City police began
patrolling the casino's parking garages in reaction to the deadly
carjacking at the Taj more than a week ago.

Atlantic City casino parking garages now part of police patrol

An Atlantic City police patrol car enters Trump Taj Mahal Casino
Resort's parking garage Monday. Atlantic City police began
patrolling the casino's parking garages in reaction to the deadly
carjacking at the Taj more than a week ago.

ATLANTIC CITY - Police began patrolling casino parking garages
Monday, a week after a carjacking left a man dead and a woman
injured.

All 12 casino garages - including the under-construction Revel -
will be included, Deputy Chiefs Ernest Jubilee and Henry White said
Monday. The patrols, which began at 8 a.m., will use no additional
manpower or cost extra money.

"When they're not on a call, it will be part of their normal
patrol," White said of the department's officers, who will patrol
in cars and on motorcycles and bicycles.

The announcement was made shortly before the last of the three
suspects in the carjacking at Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort's
parking garage made his first appearance in court.

Raheem Simmons, 18, is one of three Camden men charged with
murder and other offenses after a Middlesex County couple was
forced to drive from the Taj's garage just before 8 a.m. Sept. 18.
They were led to an alley off the 500 block of Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. Boulevard, where they were both shot. Sunil Rattu, 28, of
Old Bridge, was killed. His girlfriend, Radha Ghetia, 24, of
Sayreville, was wounded and has since been released from the
hospital.

Simmons told the judge he understood the charges and had
retained a lawyer.

The attack was the second at the Taj Mahal garage in 16 months.
It brought the issue of casino parking garage safety to the
forefront

All three suspects were arrested within five days.

While public safety leaders have insisted that Atlantic City is
safe, the perception that it is not has caused concern, White said.
He referred to results of a Richard Stockton College poll that
appeared Sunday in The Press of Atlantic City indicating that only
52 percent of the 938 people polled found the city either "very
safe" or "safe." The poll also found 15 percent found it "unsafe"
or "very unsafe."

"We don't feel the city is unsafe," White said. "But that
perception is a problem. Perception becomes reality."

Discussions to add vertical patrols - so called because the
officers will ride up the various levels of the garages - began
last week during a meeting with casino security heads, he said. But
the decision to announce them was made partly because of the
public's perception.

"Seeing this added police presence should add a level of comfort
for casino employees and guests," White said. "We at the (Atlantic
City Police Department) are concerned about the city's image."

But police union President David Davidson Jr. said the problem
is not just one of perception.

"The city is unsafe," he said. "It's a perceptual problem?
Explain that to the victims. Explain that to the families of those
folks that were murdered that it's a perceptual problem."

Atlantic City's violent crime rate was 19.7 per 1,000 people
last year, putting it highest among the top 15 U.S. gaming markets.
Leaders long have taken issue with the use of those numbers, saying
they are skewed because Atlantic City's population - 39,000 - is
the smallest of those markets, while its number of annual visitors
- more than 30 million - is on par with the rest.

"I'd like to point out that the crime stats with casinos is
still lower than they were pre-casinos," Jubilee said. "That's
really a sign of what we're up against."

Patrols used to take place inside the garages when the
department was larger, Davidson said. But things are different now,
he added.

"We can't take on these added responsibilities when we don't
have the proper manpower and we don't have the proper tools to get
them done," he said. "The Police Department (with 330 officers) is
not big enough to handle this extra responsibility on the
street."

The deputy chiefs said all the patrol leaders were on board with
the patrols and the casinos welcomed them.

"We've always felt that that should be a necessary part of what
the city police do," said Dennis Gomes, chief executive officer of
Resorts Casino Hotel. "We're extremely happy to see this added. We
think it will go a long way in helping us with our security."

The Taj will keep current security measures in place along with
the added patrols, spokesman Brian Cahill confirmed. That includes
security details by off-duty officers it pays the city to use.

Gomes - a former Las Vegas gaming regulator - agrees that the
crime numbers do not give the true picture of Atlantic City.

"If you look at the actual numbers of crimes, I guarantee you
our crime would be way less than Las Vegas," he said. "And I think
Las Vegas is a very safe place to be."

But perception is important, the deputy chiefs acknowledged.

"If we have to step it up so the public has more confidence in
us, so be it," White said.